Strains of singlehood in later life: do race and gender matter?

Few studies have identified the distinctive aspects of singlehood that are distressing to older adults. The objectives of our study were: (a) to examine whether divorced, widowed, and never-married older adults differed in their experiences of single strain, an indicator of chronic stressors associated with being unmarried; and (b) to assess whether the marital status differences we explored varied by gender and race.

Using data from a subsample of 530 unmarried older adults and ordinary least squares regression, we estimated main and interactive effects of marital status, gender, and race on single strain.

Divorced and widowed persons reported higher single strain than never-married persons, although the magnitude of these effects varied considerably by race and gender. Never-married White women reported higher levels of single strain than their male counterparts. White widows and widowers exhibited higher single strain than widowed Black adults. Black women uniformly fared better than White women, whereas divorced and never-married Black men were not different from their White peers in terms of single strain.

Psychological adjustment to singlehood among older adults reflects patterns of gender and race stratification and socialization over the life course.